Throughout this application various publications are referenced by Arabic numerals. Full citations for these references may be found at the end of the specification immediately preceding the claims. The disclosure of these publications is hereby incorporated by reference into this application to describe more fully the art to which this invention pertains.
The human glycoprotein gonadotropic hormones—luteinizing hormone (hLH), follicle stimulating hormone (hFSH), and chorionic gonadotropin (hCG)—are essential for reproduction. These hormones, along with thyroid stimulating hormone (hTSH), are composed of a common alpha subunit noncovalently combined with a target-specific beta subunit (1, 2) and they appear in blood and urine in a variety of forms ranging from the heterodimeric intact molecules to small fragments (1, 2). All of the glycoprotein hormones are produced by the pituitary, including a small quantity of human chorionic gonadotropin (3).
hLH is known to exist intracellularly, and also in soluble, extracellular form. However, hLH has not been known to exist on the surface of cells. Data presented herein demonstrate the existence of hLH on the surface of human malignant cells.
Certain methods of detecting malignant cells currently exist. However, these methods are generally expensive and time consuming. Accordingly, there exists a need for a rapid and relatively inexpensive method for detecting human malignant cells.
The subject invention provides a method for detecting the presence of human malignant cells in a sample of tumor cells, as well as a method for determining whether a tumor present in a human subject is malignant, which methods exploit the existence of hLH on the surface of malignant cells.
The subject invention further provides a method for obtaining an enriched population of live human malignant cells, which method also exploits the existence of hLH on the surface of malignant cells.